CHRIS STEPHENSON

Chris is a brand strategist with global experience working with some of the biggest lifestyle and culture brands: MTV, Pepe Jeans, Interscope Records, House of Blues, Ministry of Sound, SFX, Absolut, Beatport, Budweiser, Corona and many more.

He hails from Liverpool, UK and was immersed in early electronic music culture as it emerged from punk rock. Much of his passion for music, fashion and art came from his early visits to the Hacienda in Manchester and the subsequent fascination with Factory Records, Peter Saville and emerging sub-cultures.

Chris has spent his entire career bridging brands, culture and creative strategy. Sometimes as a client, sometimes as an agency. Always with his deep curiosity in the role of brands in our lives.

Following his post-graduate years in the fashion industry in London, with Pepe Jeans and Tommy  Hilfiger, Chris spent six (hey-day) years at MTV, launching the brand in 32 countries across the globe including Russia, Lebanon, Latin America and India. At this team, Chris lead some of the companies first forays into technology and ultimately moved to House of Blues to help launch this live music brand in US and it’s live internet broadcast business unit.

In the first half of the new millennium, Chris became CEO of Ministry of Sound in USA where he helped forge some of the first tracks for electronic music this side of the pond. This included some of the first large DJ-led events on the west coast and some early DJ projects in Las Vegas.

Chris spent three years at Microsoft as GM of Global Entertainment working in the Xbox unit focused on music and video. Seattle was a bit cold, even for a limey.

He joined Interscope Records as CMO just as Lady Gaga, Beats by Dre, Vevo and Black Eyed Peas became the focus of attention. Developing bands and brands became the mantra.

More recently, Chris was an early founder of SFX which aggregated festivals and promoters around the globe and developed FX1, the in-house agency division at the company, which built unique campaigns for amongst other Corona, Skol and T-Mobile 

Since 2015, Chris has founded and managed CR8 which not only builds culture based strategy for consumer brands but is also focused on IP development with a mezcal and bone broth brand in development. CR8 is Chris’ lab for mining the soul in brands and optimizing them for authentic culture connection and brand health.

Chris is an avid ultra endurance athlete and has competed in five Ironman World Championships in Kona, has completed multiple 100 Mile ultra runs, is a 2:46 marathon runner. 

Focus, passion, persistence, faith and hard work drive his principles.

DAVIDE BERRUTO

Davide is a creative entrepreneur with broad international experience in design, innovation, and sustainability across industries and cultures.

He is best at driving strategy, growth and international development for technology and design driven ventures. He has over 20 years of experience building and financing early stage businesses, launching products and developing global strategic alliances.

Over the years Davide has engaged regularly with both disruptive startups and established brands on cultural engineering, product design and growth strategy.

He is a strategist and active angel investor, most interested in putting to work his creative and entrepreneurial skills with brands that prioritize innovation and design.

Davide has industry knowledge and direct experience in technology, retail, fashion, furniture, design and hospitality development.

Davide was a Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Environment Furniture where he was responsible for providing strategic direction to the company and for delivering on the company’s mission of bringing together innovation and sustainability to the furniture industry.

In 2011, he launched the Shelter Half brand as a laboratory to experiment with retail design and create venues for commerce based on collaboration and free creative expression as well as "shelters" where innovative people came together to discuss and further new ideas about culture, design, fashion, art, food, music, etc.

He was an early advisor / investor in Pandora Media and has been a frequent speaker at conferences on design, retail innovation, sustainability and impact investing all over the world.

Davide hails from Italy, where he grew up in a family of fashion disrupters, new-wave bar/restaurant owners. He was fully immersed in the fashion & retail industry from a very early age. He was most likely the youngest patron of Les Bain Douche in Paris. As a child he was brought into the showrooms, ateliers and stores of the most iconic Italian, Japanese and English fashion and design brands of the last three decades.  

He is not an iron-man finisher, but his Spaghetti aglio olio is remarkable.